


A Dragon's Roar

by Saltwater_Spacespeasant



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arthur Finds Out About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Dragonlord Merlin (Merlin), Dragons, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Lots of Angst, M/M, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Arthur, You Have Been Warned, im talkin bucketsfull of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saltwater_Spacespeasant/pseuds/Saltwater_Spacespeasant
Summary: During the weekly public audience with the King, a peasant woman claims that a magical beast conjured by a sorcerer has attacked her hometown. Arthur sets out for the village with his Knights, making an unexpected discovery about Merlin on the way. Can the two of them get past this revelation to protect Camelot's citizens?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 94





	1. Audience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the weekly public audience with King Arthur, a peasant woman begs for them to drive a creature which she believes to be magical from her hometown.

It started on what Merlin had hoped would’ve been just a normal, if not incredibly dull, Thursday afternoon, standing idly behind Arthur’s throne in the council chambers, listening to the concerns of all the peasants and Nobles who were queueing for an audience with the King.

Everything was going smoothly, until a young peasant woman who looked to be on the brink of tears shuffled forward and began speaking.

“Sire, our village has been attacked by a beast, a giant, hungry wolf. It’s stealing our livestock, it’s taken two farmers already, we won’t survive-“

Arthur raised his hand, signalling for her to be silent.

“I will send some of my Knights to accompany you back to your village.” He began. “They will help drive the animal away from-“

“No, you don’t understand, my Lord, it’s magic!”

The room went silent.

“How can you be sure?” A voice called from amongst the council. Merlin recognised it immediately as coming from Gaius. “What separates it from an ordinary wolf?”

“Its eyes,” the woman began, “Its eyes were glowing, they were bright gold, I feared for my life when I saw it. It’s the work of a sorcerer, I know it is.”

Arthur stood up from his throne.

“The council is dismissed.”

With his order, the crowd of Lords and villagers began shuffling out of the room, with only Merlin, Gaius, and Arthur’s most trusted Knights remaining. Merlin walked from his place beside Arthur’s throne to stand beside his mentor.

Arthur approached the woman, and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“From which village do you come to Camelot?”

“Farnmouth, Sire, it’s a small farming village three days’ walk North of here. If the wolf keeps stealing our food we won’t survive until Spring.”

“I understand your concern. Gaius will research the nature of this creature. He and his assistant, Merlin,” He nodded towards his servant standing beside Gaius, “will find a way for us to defeat it or drive it away from your home. I give you my word.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” The woman looked close to tears.

“If you wish, you may stay in one of the Guests’ chambers until this creature has been defeated and your home is safe.”

The woman nodded, and Arthur signalled with a wave of his hand for everyone to leave.

* * *

Merlin and Gaius had been in the Physician’s chambers flicking through books for hours to no avail for any hint at what the creature might be. It was late in the evening and Merlin had nearly fallen asleep before Gaius shot up in his chair, pointing to a page in a book.

“This is it!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?”

“It’s called an Amarok. It’s conjured by powerful sorcery and cannot be killed by normal means.”

“Great, just the run-of-the-mill magical monster, then.” Merlin sighed. “How do we stop it?”

“I’m sure that Dragon-fire sword of Arthur’s will do the trick easily enough. But the real problem is the sorcerer who conjured the creature. If the beast is killed, there’s nothing to stop them from conjuring another. We’ll have to figure out what they want.” Gaius explained.

At this point, dealing with malicious magical beasts _was_ Merlin’s average Thursday, and he was getting really rather tired of it.

“I’ll go and tell Arthur what we’ve found.”

* * *

Arthur was at his desk in his chambers reading some rather dull paperwork about grain reserves when Merlin scrambled loudly into the room. He looked exhausted, as if hadn’t slept for several days, yet his signature sunny smile was lighting up his features.

“Have you found out what it is?” Arthur demanded.

“Gaius thinks it’s an Amarok.” Merlin answered. “Apparently, a normal weapon can’t kill it but since that sword has a legend surrounding it, Gaius says it might be powerful enough to be able to defeat it.”

“Great!” he exclaimed. “Tell the others to pack. We’re to depart for Farmouth at dawn.”

“There is one problem, sire.”

Arthur sighed. Of course, there would be. Nothing could ever be simple in Camelot, could it?

“Yes, what is it?”

“It may or may not have been conjured by a sorcerer. To prevent them from conjuring another, we have to find out what they want.”

* * *

In the private council chambers of the Knights of the Round Table, Arthur told his five most loyal and trusted knights, Leon, Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percival, their plan of action.

“We will ride out at dawn tomorrow to Farnmouth. On foot it is three days’ walk, but if we ride swiftly we may cut the time spent travelling in half. Once we reach the village, we will tell the villagers to stay in their homes while we confront the monster and the sorcerer who conjured it. We will use whatever means we have to defeat them if it comes down to it. Does everyone understand?”

There were murmurs of agreement and nods of understanding among his Knights.

“Excellent. Now, go to your chambers and prepare. Have your swords sharpened and armour repaired, and pack supplies for the journey. Food, water, medicinal remedies.” Arthur paused, “And no mead, _Gwaine._ ” He added.

“Oh, c’mon, Princess, you never let me have any fun.” Gwaine laughed.

Arthur just glared at the turbulent knight, but he could feel a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He stood up, and his friends followed suit. “Make sure you’re well rested for the journey. We are to meet here tomorrow at first light. Now let’s waste no more time, you all may go to your chambers.”

With that final command, his Knights strode out of the hall to their respective rooms to make their preparations.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but oh boy, this was going to be a tough mission. Arthur was sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had an idea for a scene a couple months ago, wanted to stretch it into a full-sized fic so here is the first chapter! Filler to set up the story for the most part but I still like it. I think after the scenes that gave me the idea I’ll probably make it up as I go along cause I don’t really have any plans for the plot other than this vague consensus that I thought of.


	2. Travelling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Knights set off on their journey, but are attacked by a group of bandits on the way.

The Knights of the Round Table met outside their council chambers at first light and hurried towards the stables, where Merlin and two young stable boys already had their horses saddled and bridled, waiting for their riders to arrive. They set off riding North into the Darkling Woods at sunrise, as they had agreed the previous evening at the aforementioned Round Table.

At noon they stopped at a small stream to refill their waterskins and Merlin passed out some extra bread and cheese he had brought from the Palace Kitchens. He was just about to take a bite out of his when he heard a twig snap from somewhere beyond the small clearing. He whirled around to look for the source of the sound and saw a small group of men in black leather, wielding swords, flanked by two men wearing the same clothing and holding crossbows.

“Bandits!” He shouted, and the others stood up and drew their swords. One of the archers sent a crossbow bolt flying towards Merlin. He summoned his magic and nudged the bolt slightly to the left, so that it missed his head by an inch, subtle enough that unless they’d been looking for it, nobody would’ve noticed. Still, he hoped none of his friends were paying close enough attention to him to see his eyes glowing.

* * *

“Bandits!” Arthur heard Merlin call from near where the horses had been tethered. He spun around and drew Excalibur from its scabbard, motioning for his Knights to do the same with their swords. He halted as a bandit holding a crossbow shot a bolt at Merlin. Arthur held his breath. The bolt missed Merlin by mere inches and he breathed a sigh of relief as it flew past his servant, leaving him unharmed.

Arthur ran towards the bandits, and began slashing his sword. The sound of metal on metal filled the clearing, _clang, clang, clang_ , as he and the others engaged in combat with them. While their swords were locked together, the bandit Arthur was fighting pushed forward against him, and he stumbled back a few paces and tripped over a root. He got up as quickly as his legs would allow and barely managed to parry a blow from his opponent. Their swords locked together once more and as Arthur pushed forward the sword flew from the bandit’s grip and embedded itself into a tree, too high to reach.

Having bested his opponent, Arthur looked around the clearing, and saw that each of his Knights had defeated theirs too. All the bandits had gone, except, Arthur realised too late, the archers, who had now discarded their crossbows and were closing in on Merlin with gleaming daggers in their hands.

“Merlin!” he shouted.

Merlin was backed against a rock, and his eyes were frantically darting around the clearing for any chance of escape, until they landed on a tree branch, and as Merlin’s eyes fell onto it, their stormy blue irises caught the light of the sun and reflected it in a way which made them appear as if they were glowing a soft, warm gold. Arthur would never admit this to anyone, least of all Merlin, but in that moment, they were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and rushed forward to protect Merlin, and just as he did so, the branch Merlin was focusing on broke off of the tree it was connected to and was now falling towards the two bandits that were cornering him.

They crumpled to the ground, and Arthur dashed towards Merlin so he could be sure he hadn’t been harmed.

“Merlin! Are you alright?” He called, slightly breathless from the ordeal.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Arthur. How about you, I saw you hit your head on the ground when you fell."

“Don’t worry about that, let’s pack up and get moving. Come on!”

* * *

They continued walking for a few hours, and the sun was just beginning to dip below the tips of the taller trees when they found a small clearing with a creek not to far away, within a few minutes’ walk.

“We’ll set up camp here and in the morning, we are to continue riding at dawn.” Arthur instructed. “With luck, we should reach Farnmouth by early afternoon at the latest.”

Merlin tethered the horses to a few small trees at the edge of the clearing and then slumped against another, exhausted from a full day of riding. (if you don’t count the part where they were attacked by bandits, that is.) The relief, however slight, didn’t last long, though, as Arthur was soon dishing out orders to everyone in the vicinity.

“-Leon, refill the water at the creek, and see if you can spike a fish or two while you’re at it.” Arthur said, tossing the group’s waterskins and a sharpened stick towards the First Kinght, “Lancelot, Elyan, and Gwaine, you three are coming with me to hunt.” The three Knights stood up and gathered their crossbows and

“And Merlin,” Merlin looked up at the mention of his name, “go and collect some wood for a fire. Percival will go with you to help you carry it.”

Merlin sighed. “Yes, Arthur.” He stood up and walked into the trees, picking up twigs he deemed large enough to count as firewood, vaguely aware of Percy following behind him and doing the same.

They arrived back at the camp as the final streaks of pink and purple faded from the sky after dusk, arms laden with twigs and small branches. Merlin set them down in the centre of the clearing, and Percival did the same before joining his fellow Knights.

Merlin glanced over, and once he was sure that they weren’t paying any attention to him, he turned back to the fire. He held his hand slightly above it and whispered,

“ _Forbearnan._ ” The fire crackled slightly before catching on the wood and roaring to life. The Knights continued chattering, oblivious to the display of magic.

“Merlin, do something with these, will you?” Arthur called, dropping two rabbits from his hunt in front of him.

Merlin sighed and skinned them to prepare them for cooking, before skewering them and turning them over the fire.

Merlin laid down the bedrolls as they ate.

“We should get some rest. Merlin, you’ll keep watch, won’t you?” Arthur asked. In response, Merlin just sighed. Soon, all of the Knights had fallen asleep.

And then Merlin snuck off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first time writing a fight scene, so it might not be any good but I tried my best. Also sorry if the dialogue in the second half is a bit weird, I may have rushed it so I could start writing chapter 3. That’s where stuff will actually start happening, and its also the big scene I mentioned in the notes for the last chapter so I wanna get it done pretty soon


End file.
